Education Update

Test Scores Show ProgressMississippi Curriculum Test 2 scores for the 2010-2011 school year show that for the first time in Mississippi more than 50 percent of students in each grade scored proficient or above in language arts. Each year, students in third through eighth grades take the tests, meant to measure school and district performance.

In the Jackson Public Schools, a higher percentage of seventh- and eighth-graders than last year scored high in language arts, and third- and fourth-graders fared better in math. The percentage of JPS sixth-graders scoring proficient or above in language arts and math went down from last year, however.

Nancy Loome, executive director of The Parents' Campaign, a K-12 advocacy group in Mississippi based in Jackson, said what stood out to her about the test scores is the improvement at schools statewide, despite reduced resources.

"Teachers are working really hard to make sure students get what they need," she said.